Four Resistance Women. Just Do It and Stand Up Proudly

Geert van de Molen, Tine Boeke-Kramer, Riete Sterenberg-Gompertz and Rachel van Amerongen. Four women, four resistance fighters. Why did they revolt against the German occupier and what consequences did this have for their lives? These questions are central to the oral history project ‘Four Resistance Women’ (2009), which refines the stereotypical image of women in the resistance.

Women were thought to have played a supporting role, often as couriers. This image is not correct for the four women in this project. The choice for the resistance appeared to be strongly politically motivated for the communist Geert van der Molen, who grew up in a reformed bargees’ family, while the nurse Tine Boeke-Kramer became involved in the resistance when she met Jewish refugees. She brought many Jewish children to hiding addresses. Riete Sterenberg-Gompertz forged personal identification cards and Rachel van Amerongen got into the resistance through her marriage to a non-Jewish Surinam resistance fighter. Their activities varied from forging personal identification cards to producing illegal newspapers and helping people in hiding. All interviewed women had been in German concentration camps.

The 5th interview was conducted with a brother of interviewee 4.

However different the four women were, art and culture were of great importance in their lives and also during the war. Music gave strength to go on or was an outlet for fears. Others used their artistic talent in their resistance activities.